A Small Gift 2
by Zaffreglow
Summary: A sequel to my Magolor fanfic "A Small Gift", for the two of you who asked me to, and anyone else that might also enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Any resemblance this fanfic has to anyone else's is pure coincidence. I've only read a few fics that pertained to what I'm writing about, and none of them portrayed things in the way I've been wanting to. Also, I apologize for the errors you will inevitably find, it's been a while since I wrote anything.

**A Small Gift 2**

Chapter 1

On the planet Popstar, out where rolling green plains met with dusty sand dunes, a magnificent ship of silvery metals and pulsing energy was resting cozily on a grassy hill. Its oars were set to keep the ship in balance on the rounded ground, its sail breathed with the life of the winds, and its sheen glistened in the cheerful sunlight. Such a peaceful, happy place to be, but the ship kept itself on these outskirts where the grass faded into dirt, and then dirt faded into hot, blistering sands. A certain someone didn't want to be out in the open—not before he was ready, anyway.

Inside the ship, the oval little alien Magolor had his gloved hands resting on top of a rectangular machine, tapping it rhythmically while watching a thin slot on its front with anxious intensity. Blinking lights rotated in their colorful glow, and soon, the machine spat out papers full of blueprints into Magolor's waiting hands. When each paper was accounted for, he took them over to a nearby metal desk, setting them down upon it and flattening them with a few pats of his palms. Plucking a pencil out of a likewise metal cup, those detached hands began to flourish over the papers, using the lead to mark thick lines over ones already present in the diagrams, and then marking more lines where there were none.

"Can't have this one be the same," he considered aloud. "I'll need to make changes here—maybe a new pathway, or some score coins...this part is too easy, so I'll put obstacles there..."

After some time spent mulling over the layout of the prints, Magolor rolled the papers up in his hands, hovering out of the room, through an automatic door, and further down a narrow, sleek hallway. He entered the area of his ship that was dedicated to some very special rooms, obstacle courses, or as he liked to call them, challenge stages. A door with a sword emblem engraved in its circular shape slid open as Magolor headed straight inside.

The interior of this room was completely unlike that of the rest of the ship. It appeared to be made up of wooden play blocks, some painted in vibrant colors, some plain with their wood-grain in ripples showing across, some with simple shapes carved and colored into them. There was also the occasional rotating circular blocks with pegs sticking out, which in turn rotated other circular, peg-lined blocks, which Magolor included because they reminded him of gears. Although, now that he stood there and really took his creation in, he slowly realized just how condescending it all was. He hadn't given Kirby consideration enough to think of him as anything more than an adaptable child, and subconsciously tailored these challenge stages to reflect that.

Then again...Kirby never seemed to take issue with it, and did express child-like unbridled joy at times.

Magolor shrugged to himself, and turned to face a small bin that was right next to the entrance. Inside, a toy sword sat, looking quite lonely. After stuffing the all but one of the blueprints somewhere up his cape, Magolor reached over to take the toy sword by the hilt, wielding it in one gloved hand while the other unfurled the remaining print. Using the sword like a pointer, he traced around in the design until he came to a stop at his present location. Looking back up, sword raised again, he floated forward, and made a slash at imaginary foes.

"Fifty points!" he exclaimed like an announcer commentating over a sports game.

Magolor swept through the entire stage. Once he reached the door at the end, he came back out into the Lor's lustrous, sky blue interior, but immediately went right back into the stage. He ran himself through it, over and over, changing things around each time he did. He made further notes on his blueprints, drawing new lines, marking placements for foes and obstacles. He pushed the building blocks around to make the changes he desired, be it new paths or slight changes to ones already there. He had the ship materialize new blocks for him to use, some being real wooden gears, which he again pushed or pulled into place. He calculated the numbers, tallied the points, placed the coins, determined the bonuses, and finalized the amounts needed for the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum medals.

When he was finished, Magolor wiped the back of his hand across his hooded brow, removing some excess of perspiration that had gathered as he looked proudly upon his revamped challenge stage.

"Perfect," he said to himself, greatly pleased with his handiwork. "Now for the next one!"

Magolor's goal was to painstakingly repeat this process for every challenge stage in his ship. It wasn't enough to simply make the stages better, he wanted them to be fun and legitimately challenging for Kirby. He had initially created them in a hurry, as something to motivate the pink hero into being diligent in retrieving the Lor's energy spheres. As long as it worked and functioned, that was all Magolor had cared about at the time. But now, he had a real reason to make sure that Kirby would get the most out of these stages...he wanted Kirby to be happy.

As Magolor proceeded into the whip challenge stage armed with its blueprints and a long piece of rope as a makeshift whip, he silently considered his feelings. Funnily enough, he was deriving a lot of enjoyment out of all this. His previous goal of obtaining the Master Crown was one wrought with tension and impatience. The closer they got to repairing the Starcutter, the more anxious and pushy he became, to the point where he let his eagerness for the crown slip out a few times. Magolor tended to bite his tongue when he'd realized he may have said too much, but Kirby was so trusting of him, it was soon clear that it wasn't going to be a problem. There was so much deception and selfishness...

But here, now, Magolor was creating something for someone other than himself. He was able to look forward to making a good surprise, and with all the analyzing and crafting involved, flexing his natural skills and talents, the time felt to pass by much too quickly instead of dragging on. He was taking in a humble joy he'd never really experienced before. Doing something pleasant for a friend? He never had friends. Though, he was getting ahead of himself—he couldn't really call himself a friend if Kirby didn't feel the same way.

Magolor momentarily ceased pushing a massive wooden gear across a platform as a sullen thought triggered a fearful heartbeat in his chest. What if Kirby didn't want to be friends, even with these new challenge stages? What if, even after presenting these things to him, Kirby would still reject him? Run him right out of Dream Land and off of Popstar?

These thoughts caused Magolor to stare upwards, hands hanging at his sides, completely unaware of the giant gear slowly turning on its cogs in his direction, as there was just enough of a tilt to give it some momentum. It moved faster quickly, giving the little alien only a split second to react when he suddenly realized something was coming at him.

**WHAM!**

The sanded edges of the cogs bit into the nearby wall with the force of a truck, rattling the building blocks, splinters from the cracks pushing up as if to leap out of the wood. On the opposite side, Magolor floated like a winded balloon, both safe and stunned. He wasn't even sure what he managed to do to get out of the way, but there he was. A hand automatically reached up to scratch the side of his hooded head as he tried to think about it very carefully, picking apart the seconds of the memory experienced from that moment.

The gear was coming towards him, big, heavy, and casting its shadow over him. He very much wanted to get out of its way. There wasn't time to even think about moving, but instinct told him to move. He cringed in fear, but he also moved. He...rotated? And then he was on the other side as the gear rolled through.

Magolor backtracked in the stage with the haphazard grace of a leaf on a breeze, until he reached one of the blue, dome-shaped switches used to reveal hidden areas. The area was blocked off with a simple wall, but with a push of the button, he could open it up. He didn't want to do this, though. Those yellow eyes were on that wall with intensity enough to see straight through it as his hands slowly curled up, raising over his chest, and his mind going into a deep concentration.

For a few moments, the only sound he could hear was the gentle, but tense beats of his heart. There was a quiver dancing along his oval form, so subtle it was like a whisper of motion. This quivering persisted as Magolor tried to will his body into an action he didn't know how to make. His eyes closed into thin horizontal slits, the quivering becoming less subtle and more apparent. In a sudden sweep, he threw himself into a spin at the wall.

_**Thud!**_

It didn't go as planned.

Magolor later entered a small room he referred to as his private quarters of the Lor Starcutter, attempting to sooth the newly acquired lump on his head with a delicately balanced icepack. He decided to try again another time—he needed to finish the challenge stages before anyone discovered his ship, and now seemed like a good time to get some rest after a day of hard work and productivity.

The gloved hands reached up towards the ceiling as he gave himself a good stretch in front of his tiny, homely bed. He gave the pillow a couple of hearty slaps to fluff it up, pulled the cobalt blue sheets open, and hopped right into the bed while fully clothed. Magolor pulled the sheets back up until his scarf was covered, and nuzzled his spherical back and rear into the mattress. His head plopped against the pillow with a sleepy pat. One of his hands came back out to adjust the icepack over his hood, and then with a sigh, his eyes closed, he quickly slipped into a much needed rest for his tired little body.

The Lor Starcutter stood on its grassy hill while the dark sky shimmered above with the chaotic pattern of stars and galaxies like a great tapestry in motion. Somewhere in the distance, a pair of eyes watched the ship, before vanishing in a blur of night blue.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A gentle beeping sounded in Magolor's little private quarters from somewhere in the light blue walls, to alert him that daytime arrived. A satisfying yawn rolled out from behind his scarf as he sat himself up in bed, and then he twisted his fists against his closed eyes to rub the grogginess out of them. A soft light emitted in the room, provided by the ship to simulate the morning sunlight, to which he looked up at with a passive smile in his eyes.

"Thank you, Lor." Magolor said to the ceiling.

With that, he grabbed the now warm icepack off his pillow, pushed himself out of the bed, and bobbed over the floor like a buoy until he got his balance right. He reached up to carefully feel for the lump on his head, and delighted in noticing the swelling had gone down considerably.

"It'll be all better in no time at all!" he almost sung.

After taking a brisk shower in the ship while fully clothed, which he dried off from by standing under a heated light, and then eating a synthesized breakfast of an omelet with ketchup on top, Magolor got himself straight to work. Picking up right where he left off, blueprints ready and pencils sharpened, he finished remodeling the whip challenge as he had for the sword challenge in a matter of hours. For good measure, he took a few more runs through the completed stage to make sure everything was just right, after which, he got to work on the wing challenge, sifting through the same procedure with the meticulous care of a master craftsman. When that challenge met up to his standards, he decided to take a quick break before moving onto the next stage.

The sun had passed its highest point in the sky by now as Magolor went out onto the deck of the ship. The uncovered portion of his face was promptly blasted with fresh air being carried along a whimsical breeze, which pulled at his cape and batted at the tips of his hood. He instinctively took in a deep breath with great relish.

"Ah." he exhaled after his lungs refreshed themselves. He hadn't given it much thought, but the air inside the Lor was a bit stuffy. Then again, when was the last time he ever got to experience good, clean air? Halcandra's air was filthy with smog and volcano soot, while Another Dimension's air was stale at best, unbreathable at worst.

Magolor moved himself over to the edge of the ship, looking out into the distance on the emerald side of where they were settled. The wind was playing here too, as he could see from leaves being plucked out of the trees and carried up in swirling motions, and sweeping through the grass to give the blades a rippling shimmer in the sunlight.

The little alien felt a sudden impulse inside himself, one that wanted him to just leap right out into all that nature, to roll around in the grass and run in the plains, climb up trees and jump off rocks. But he shook his head to himself in response to the sudden desire. There was nothing more important right now than to finish his surprise for Kirby. Fun could be had later, if, and only if, Kirby would permit him to. Though, he wondered to himself, if this is why Kirby seemed so child-like at times. How could you not want to unleash the inner child in a place like Dream Land?

The glint of light reflecting against a red object pulled Magolor's attention away from his thoughts as he took notice of something in a distant tree. He pressed his chest against the ship's rim as he raised a hand over his eyes to get a better look. Those glowing eyes of his widened at what he now realized it was; An apple hanging in a leafy tree. The biggest, reddest, shiniest, juiciest looking apple he'd ever seen. A sensation like that of gnawing presented itself inside his tummy, reminding him that its been a while since any food was consumed, and that apple sure looked like a proper filler for the empty cavity.

Magolor hopped over the side of the Lor and drifted down to the grass, gliding towards the tree with unsuppressed glee showing in his eyes. The wind felt like it was encouraging him along, flowing in the same direction, tackling his cape from behind as it fanned out. It didn't take long before he came to a stop in front of the tree, staring up at the massive fruit. It looked like it could be nearly as big as himself! It also appeared to be the one and only apple in that tree, but since Magolor was unfamiliar with all of how nature works, this didn't strike him as odd. He floated himself up, higher and higher, until the large apple was within easy reach, where he then gladly put his gloved hands around it and gave it a tug.

The apple popped right out of the tree, and Magolor barreled back to the grass with soft thud and a short bounce or two. Indeed, this enormous, glorious fruit was nearly his size in height and width, he could easily eat to his fill with it. He swiveled himself back upright as he was almost giddy with the thought of eating something that wasn't synthesized, something that was fresh and grown and natural for a change. After a moment of taking in the crisp scent and speculating over how delicious the apple looked, he leaned himself closer, getting ready to pull down his scarf to give his mouth access to the glinting fruit.

But then another observation halted him.

Magolor brought a hand up to the apple's stem, pinching it between his fingers and thumb to bend it to the side. There, tied to that brown stem, was a piece of thin, broken string. The muscles in his forehead furrowed as he considered how it got there, as well as why it was there. Unfortunately, he didn't get much time to think before an armored kick against his back jarred him out of that thought and face-first into the grassy dirt with a forceful thump. Magolor's hands pressed to the ground to start lifting himself up, but another impact from a metal hilt came down against the back of his head. His face dropped limply on the dirt, and his body went still as his brain instantly decided it needed a nap.

...

Magolor felt himself drifting aimlessly in a sea of darkness. A sound of wicked giggling made him look up. Before him was a Sphere Doomer, flapping its iridescent feathered wings, staring at him with a grinning glare and jagged jowls.

"AAH!"

Magolor floated, retreating away from the creature, only for it to chase him closely behind, cackling with screeching irritation in his ears. Magolor ran as fast as he could, but the horrid beast never lost ground with him. There was a fluttering of more wings as another Sphere Doomer joined the one chasing him, and then a third, and then a fourth and fifth, all of them screaming their grating laughter at him as he fled in terror. One of them snapped their teeth, trying to catch his flapping cape, each attempt getting closer to the mark.

"Leave me ALONE!" Magolor screamed, but his voice was drowned out by their collective, incessant cackles.

Suddenly, out of the black, an even bigger one appeared in Magolor's empty path. A Grand Doomer! It put the little ones to shame with its majesty and size, its plumage and frightening grin. Magolor stopped, now surrounded by the horrid things. He spun, seeing them all with their twisted smiles, their expressions reading the very same thoughts at Magolor.

_Weakling, weakling, weakling! We'll play with you forever, little weakling! Cry for us! Cry, or else!_

Magolor complied, not because he wanted to, but because there was nothing else he could do. Frightened, helpless, and above all...defenseless _weakling!_

When his tears and sniffles showed themselves, the beasts went into an uproar of delight. Their maddening, deafening laughter raked his ears, invaded his skull, and rattled his brain. Magolor's hands pressed to the sides of his head, shaking, quivering, but he couldn't escape them. All he could see were those terrible faces, all he could hear was their sadistic joy.

"No more! NO MORE!" Magolor screamed out.

There was a hush of silence, and the Doomers vanished like colorful, warped smoke. Magolor turned, and there was Landia. It sat in a regal stance, four heads upon one body, and the topmost head wearing a magnificent yellow crown with a blue jewel in its center. It stared down at him with eight eyes, glowing with teal light.

"The Master Crown can grant ultimate power to those who wear it..." the crowned head spoke. "But it cannot be worn by those with corruptible hearts. The will of the crown can take control of its wearer through their own darkness. It's very dangerous. That's why Landia guards the crown, to make certain its power will never be abused."

"I don't suppose..." Magolor asked calmly, as if he'd never been screaming or crying, as if he picked right up in the middle of a different scenario entirely. "...That I could wear it, just to see how it looks on me? Just for a moment."

"No." The dragon stated flatly, sharpening its glares down at him. "Landia will never relinquish the crown to anyone, for any reason, not even for an instant."

Magolor heard the sound of the Doomers' taunting laughter in his head.

_Weakling, weakling, weakling!_

Magolor raised his hand. Landia was gone. The Master Crown rested in his palm, glowing with power and brilliance.

_Weakling, weakling, weakling!_

"No more." he said with quiet rage, moving to hold the crown in both hands, the gemstone facing him.

Magolor saw himself reflected in the many facets of the gem. That gorgeous blue gemstone slowly turned purple, and then just as slowly turned blood-red. He saw himself changing colors as the gem did, and his reflection spoke.

"I won't be weak and helpless anymore."

_Weakling, weakling, weakling!_

"With ultimate power...I can get my revenge on them..._all of them!_"

_Weakling, weakling, weakling!_

...It cannot be worn by those with corruptible hearts...

...The will of the crown can take control of its wearer through their own darkness...

_...corruptible hearts..._

_...their own darkness..._

...

The memory of Landia's words echoed in Magolor's head as he gradually regained consciousness. His eyes, glowing faintly, struggled to force themselves open. Those first few blinks saw a blurry, double vision of a dark room. It took him a few moments to realize he was laying down, on his back, against cold stone. With a few blinks more, his vision aligned and cleared while his eyes took on their usual vibrant lemon glow. He groggily sat himself up, and took in his surroundings. It was a small room he was in, made of gloomy, oppressive stone bricks. There was a dank, chilled air that crept under his clothes and walked along his skin, making him shiver. There were rusty metal bars for a gated door, past which he could see a similarly structured hallway, and up high towards the ceiling, a tiny window that was also lined with thick bars. That window was the only source of light in the room, and it hardly gave any.

Magolor carefully floated himself up until he reached the window, gripping the bars and taking a look outside. He soon realized that so little light was showing through because it was now nighttime, and only the light of the moon's silvery rays were touching upon his face. That, and the window appeared to be at ground level...there was grass directly in front of Magolor's eyes as he tried to discern his location. From what he was able to see, the presence of grass, numerous trees, and cheese-like hills in the distance gave him the impression that he might be further away from the desert and closer to the central area of this region.

Letting go of the bars, he fell slowly like a rock descending in water.

_Nighttime! _He thoughtfully lamented. _I could have finished another stage by now!_

Taking a sad gaze around the room, the uncomfortable realization settled in that he was trapped. But why? And by whom? On that question, he reached up to the back of his head, and felt a new bump there, which made him wince from the touch.

_That's right_, he thought again. _Something hit me. The apple must've been a trick...someone must know I'm here..._

He suddenly became worried.

_If someone knew I was here, then does that mean Kirby knows, too? What if Kirby was the one that knocked me out and put me in this prison? _Magolor's face faulted. _If this is the case, then I blew it... Will I even get a chance to tell Kirby I'm sorry...?_

He looked around again, eyes weighted with sorrow.

"Lor..." he whimpered aloud like a lost child. "I wish you were here...at this rate, you're going to be my only friend..."

As Magolor peered around, his eyes stopped on what appeared to be a shadow moving in the hallway. He immediately jumped up and ran to the cell door, attempting to wedge as much of his head as he could fit between the bars, scuffing his outfit with their rust. Down the hall, coming his way, a small, shadowed figure marched closer in his direction.

"Hey!" Magolor called out, eyes wide, pushing a hand through the filthy bars to wave at the person. "Hey! Kirby! Is that you?"

The figure remained silent as its footsteps became audible.

"Please, let me talk to you!"

Again, silence apart from the slow approach.

"Please!" Magolor begged. "Just give me a chance! I'm not here to hurt anyone! You don't have to trust me, but please, Kirby, just let me say what I have to say..to...you..."

His words trailed off as the person walked in front of the cell, and the dim moonlight revealed their features. A pair of hazel eyes now stared back at his, with a body of beige skin and brown fur.

"A Waddle..widdle..something..what are you called, again?" Magolor asked as he slumped heavily against the cell bars, eyes half-cast.

The Waddle Dee didn't answer. The little alien suddenly remembered that he never once heard the one wearing the blue bandana speaking.

"Can you guys..even talk?"

The Waddle Dee shook its head.

"Okay...yeah, I guess you're not gonna be much help, then." Magolor said as his head joined in the slumping motion of the rest of his body, resting against the bars with his eyes pointed to the floor.

The Waddle Dee continued on its patrol, its footsteps echoing down the hall as it went, fading into silence. All the while, Magolor hung coldly by his hands against the bars, like a hopeless spirit chained to the mortal world.

He held himself in this position for a time as he allowed the weight of the situation to crush him into despair. It seemed like there was nothing he could do to escape, and that would allow the possibility of failing miserably to make peace with Kirby. Failure. Helplessness. _Weakling._

This damaging train of thought completely derailed when an explosion sounded out directly behind Magolor, causing him to flip into the rank air and perform some involuntary cartwheels before landing. Crumbling bits of gravel and stone pelted his body in various places, as well as the walls and hallway.

Magolor held his hands over his chest as if to prevent an impending heart attack as he looked over to see what happened. The back wall of the cell had been blasted apart, putting a gaping hole into the stone and dirt behind it. From where he laid, he couldn't see what caused the destruction, but he was shaking in place so badly, he didn't have the strength to get up and find out.

_Now someone's here to kill me_, he thought in a panic to match his heart rate. _I'm going to die._

However, then, beyond the hole, Magolor caught a glimpse of familiar, glowing white energy. The air slowly started to buzz with its presence. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he summoned enough vigor to get off the floor and scurry through the blasted wall. Out of the cell and on the grass, Magolor's heart leapt with joy, and his eyes glimmered widely with renewed hope.

The Lor Starcutter was hovering over the ground, oars weaving in the air, glowing with its magnificent power against the darkness of the night.

Magolor didn't waste any time. He floated himself as fast and as high as his body could handle, until he was on the deck of the Starcutter.

"Oh, thank you, Lor! You saved me!" He praised gratefully as he moved in a hurry. "Quick, get us out of here!"

The ship began to lift up into the twinkling black sky as Magolor made his way into the cockpit. Once he was safely inside its interior, the ship picked up speed until it was far up in the atmosphere, and zoomed off into the distance, trailing a shimmering comet tail behind it.

The rest of Magolor's evening was very pleasant, as he finally got to eat to his fill, and then went straight to bed to calm his nerves. He decided to worry about his situation tomorrow, after getting a good night's sleep.

Elsewhere, a certain blue penguin was raging at his Waddle Dee minions over why there was a hole in his castle. The Waddle Dees couldn't give their king an answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning, the Lor Starcutter was suspended over the clear, blue waves of an ocean, whose waters continually reached and retreated from tropical sandy beaches in rolling white crests. The ship rocked in place with playful, sweeping bounces, and its oars wafted around the cheerful sky. On board, not too far from the illuminated control panel and the massive screen in front of it, Magolor was bobbing over the sleek floor as he paced around in a wide circle, his hands crossed behind his back and his eyes focused thoughtfully ahead.

"So, someone knows I'm here. It could be Kirby, or it could be someone else." He said to the Lor.

The ship didn't respond, but Magolor knew it was listening, and that was comfort enough for the frazzled alien.

"If it_ is _Kirby, then he'll probably figure out I escaped pretty soon, if he hasn't already. If it was someone else...then it's possible that Kirby doesn't know anything yet. That might not stop him from finding out from whoever else is behind this, though..."

Magolor shook his head to himself, eyes closing for a moment before opening them back up slowly.

"They don't know why I'm here, but since they know I was trying to take over the universe and destroy them, and since whoever found me attacked me instead of saying hello... I think it's safe to assume they think I'm here to cause problems again, and probably want to stop me. Which means, whether it's Kirby or not, they'll track us down eventually."

He stopped in his little pattern, showing sudden determination with a raised fist and uplifted stare.

"I need to finish everything as fast as possible, then! If they come to attack me, then I want to at least have his surprise all ready for him. So I can prove I wanted to be here on peaceful terms... And, if I'm lucky...that will be enough for them to not try to kill me."

Magolor nodded in agreement to himself. But then his eyes shifted, expressing a certain kind of worry. He hovered over to the control panel, eyes on the screen as it showed images of the ocean below.

"Lor..." he started. "...I don't know what they were going to do with me if I stayed in that prison. I don't know if they were going to keep me there forever or what. But as far as I can tell...if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have escaped. You're really the only friend I have right now...and I feel like you saved my life back there. But...if anything happens to me..."

He paused. His eyes lowered, past the screen, and past the colorful keys. He brought a hand to rest over his chest, although he didn't know why. Under that gloved hand, he felt his heart thumping a little faster, a little anxiously.

"...If anything happens to me...if I go out there, and I don't come back..." he gradually brought his lemon eyes back up to the screen. "...Then I want you to get out of here. I want you to go back to Halcandra. Landia will protect you... Okay?"

The screen dimmed a little, the blinking lights slowed in their rotation, and the entire room took on a bluer hue than usual. The change made Magolor feel like there was something thick in the air, sitting on his shoulders, making it harder to breathe. Was the Lor...sad?

"Listen..." he started again, putting both hands on the edges of the keyboard. "I don't like the idea of meeting my end either...but if things go wrong, if it has to happen...then I can at least be happy knowing you'll get out of here and be safe. I don't ever want you to suffer again, like you did when I had the Master Crown... If nothing else works out for me...I'll have peace if you get yourself back to Halcandra. I don't want you to go down with me."

The pressure in the air seemed to lift, but there was still a sense of melancholy, as if it were tangible enough to be breathed in and felt against his clothes and skin. Magolor rubbed his hand on the console, attempting a gesture of comfort.

"You'll be okay, and that means I'll be okay, too. No matter what happens. And if I don't get a chance to say it later...thank you, Lor, for everything."

He stood at the panel for longer than he intended to, listening to the silence of unspoken words, breathing the feelings that may or may not have been his own. After a time of hanging over the console like incense smoke, Magolor blinked with a start as if coming out of a trance.

"I need to hurry!" He verbally reminded himself, pulling away from the keyboard and back into the room of challenge stages.

The Lor Starcutter maintained its position over the rippling ocean, as still as a painting, its oars unmoving and limp.

Over the course of the next few days, Magolor worked fervently on completing his challenge stages, pausing only when the Lor emitted beeping noises at him, to remind the busy alien that he still needed to do other things, like eating and sleeping. He heeded these signs, but didn't allow himself to relax much even when doing these things. His meals were eaten in a rush. He worked long into the nights, and awakened himself much earlier in the mornings to resume his project. These things, in addition to the looming worries about being caught and attacked, began taking their tolls without his realizing.

Magolor stood himself to be looking at all his now completed, remodeled challenge stages. Sword, whip, hi-jump, water, bomb, wing, item, they all were fresh and new and ready to run. He held up a mug of warmed synthetic tea to his mouth, letting the sound of his sipping be the only noise to be heard as he stared hard in otherwise silent consideration. Rolled up blueprints were sticking out from the back of his scarf, a pencil was balanced against one of the points of his hood, and lines were present under his blank eyes. He thought he would be quite elated to have his surprised finished, but he was not. He didn't feel happy. He didn't feel satisfied. He didn't even have a semblance of a job well done.

Why, was the question that repeated itself in his head now. Why. What's wrong, what's missing.

Magolor freed a hand from the mug to snap his gloved fingers as a thought occurred to him. _Missing. _Something_ is _missing. In yet another hurry, he zoomed over to the control panel and screen in the cockpit, everything in the room shiny and bright as usual.

"Lor, give me all the info we've got on Kirby." he commanded rather than asked.

The screen immediately lit up with all the data Magolor had gathered about Kirby, from what he learned from strangers in his travels, to what he learned from dealing with him personally, to what he had the Lor itself analyze and record on him. At the time, Magolor kept this bank of information for the eventuality that he would be fighting Kirby, so that he would be properly prepared. But now, he had a much better idea to put it to use for.

"Narrow it down to just his abilities."

The Lor again complied, and listed out the numerous copy abilities and the skills pertaining to them. Magolor set his tea on the console as he whipped out one of his blueprints, slapping it down under the keyboard so that he could write on the blank side of it.

"Parasol, spark, fighter...these ones look like fun. What about a _normal_ challenge, for Kirby's natural talents? I bet he wouldn't expect that! And what if we have something that's like a combination of a bunch of things? That would be amazing!"

An excited, happy burst of energy filled Magolor as he considered these ideas, and it showed through the speedy rate of which he made his notes. Just remaking the same old challenge stages wasn't anything special or impressive. Making something completely new and different, _that _was it! That's exactly what this surprise needed! Something _surprising!_

Leaving his tea behind, he barreled down the halls of the ship with renewed enthusiasm, back into the room with his writing desk and the rectangular machine. He pulled out some blank pieces of crisp paper, and immediately began drawing up new blueprints from scratch. Occasionally, he would grab some of the blueprints reaching out of his scarf, flattening them on the desk with paper weights to draw ideas from as he constructed these new layouts with deft strokes of lead.

"YES!" Magolor nearly screamed with triumph as he finished, thrusting his fists above himself with force enough to send the papers that weren't weighted down flying.

After that outburst, he took a moment to pick up the fallen blueprints, then grabbed more paper, laying them over to trace the lines that worked, leaving out the ones that didn't. Now with clean specs, he brought the pages to the machine and ran them though, producing copies he could freely mess up.

Magolor headed back to the challenge rooms, narrowly avoiding slamming into a wall by the skin of his cape as he arrived.

"Lor! I'm going to repurpose some of these rooms! I need you to update these doors—getting rid of hi-jump, water, bomb, and item! Replace with parasol, fighter, spark, and normal! I'll figure out the last one later!"

Each of the specified doors opened up, hiding themselves somewhere away in the walls of the Starcutter. There was a sizzling sort of sound for a few minutes, followed by the doors emerging with new symbols across their faces.

"Perfect!" He shouted. Magolor was so worked up with excitement and exhaustion, he couldn't speak in anything less than a yell.

With that taken care of, he strode himself into what would soon become the new parasol challenge. He worked on it with the frenzy and vigor of a madman, recklessly knocking blocks down all over the place, then picking them up and shoving them in where he wanted them to go, remaking the hallways to have long pits and tall vents.

At some point into his busy streak, he heard the Lor making a buzzing sound. He stopped cold in his work, for this was a buzzing unlike the usual reminders. This was an urgent and alarming sound. Magolor didn't waste any time with putting his stuff away, he dropped his papers and pencil to the floor, and headed straight for the cockpit.

As Magolor entered the room, he saw the screen alive and blinking with warning signs, along with a visual of something. He nearly rammed himself into the console as his hands came down on the keyboard, leaning forward with widened eyes to find out how serious his situation was.

There was another ship coming towards their location. Not just any ship. A massive, terrifying battleship that positively dwarfed the Starcutter in comparison. It was armed with so many cannons and so much artillery, it made Magolor's blood freeze in his body.

"They found us." He spoke in a whisper that didn't want to leave his throat.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nothing happened for several minutes as Magolor continued to stare at the screen in dumbfounded horror. The Lor buzzed at him a few times to bring him back to awareness. Shaking, his gloved hands began typing on the keyboard.

"Send out a signal," he started, feeling his panicked heartbeats pounding in his head. "Try to get into contact. It might not be compatible with your technology, but try to find something. Anything. I need to get through. I absolutely have to get through."

Magolor intensely continued typing as the Lor Starcutter did its thing. His eyes watched with growing fear as the battleship was slowly but surely getting closer to their vicinity. Trying to get away might be futile—they could start firing on them at any moment. And if he left Popstar entirely, he might never get a chance to apologize to Kirby.

He subconsciously picked up the mug of tea he left on the console earlier, the fluid making tiny waves in the cup as his quaking hands pressed the rim to his hidden lips, drinking from it while he tensely waited for the Lor's results. The tea had gone cold by now, but Magolor drunk without noticing its temperature, nor its taste.

A sudden beep startled him enough for the mug to go flying out of his hands and spiral to the floor, creating a shattered, ceramic mess. A window popped up on the screen, awaiting input. Somehow, someway, the Lor got through. Magolor proceeded to type out his message slowly, carefully, due to how badly his hands were shaking.

{Do not fire. I surrender.}

With a push of a button, the message was sent on its way. Now he needed to wait for a response...which was pretty much just as nerve-wracking. He didn't know what kind of response he would get, whether it would be a refusal, or none at all followed by being put under assault anyway. Magolor didn't want to think any of the people he met on Popstar would be that callous, but then again, he did stab them all in the back. Would blowing him out of the sky be his just desserts?

Another beep made a startled jolt run through Magolor's body. In fairly quick order, he got a response.

{If you will surrender, then meet me on the deck of my ship. Leave your ship behind. I'll be waiting.}

Magolor stared dimly at these words. There was both a sense of relief, and a sense of dread sitting like a weight in his stomach.

"...Lor...remember what I said I wanted you to do before...?" He asked the ship as he shivered. "I think now...this is the time. Take me to the deck of that ship...drop me off...and get out of here. Go back to Halcandra... Don't wait for me..."

With that said, Magolor moved himself out of the cockpit and up onto the deck of the Lor, where he now watched the distance being closed, his cape and hood tips fluttering with the cool breeze of the ocean they were over. The ship steadily made its way closer to the daunting battleship, which was casting its giant shadow over the otherwise cheerful beaches. The sun was setting, painting a display of gorgeous oranges and violets across the clear sky. Were it not for the present predicament, Magolor would have loved to take time out to admire the natural gradient of colors, but he was barely even capable of noticing anything that wasn't the approaching battleship in the distance.

As they got closer, the size of the oppressive aircraft came into better scale, and the details were showing clearly. Magolor hadn't realized it before, but the front of the ship looked an awful lot like a mask. And it seemed quite familiar too, he was starting to feel like he'd seen it somewhere before.

After a few minutes more of travel from both sides, the Lor edged itself close enough for the little alien to jump out and land on the deck of this battleship. Immediately after, and much to Magolor's relief, the Lor Starcutter zoomed with haste into the distance.

_Thank you, Lor. Now I know that you'll be safe. _He thought as he watched the Lor escape.

He now looked around on the large, long deck of this battleship as the wind made his cape flap around wildly, taking notice of how much more frightening the many cannons everywhere were. Magolor wasn't sure, but it certainly felt like they were all pointing at him, watching like soulless, empty eyes.

"Welcome to the Halberd." A voice said coolly over the sound of rushing air.

Magolor looked up ahead. There, near a door leading to the ship's interior, stood that odd, blue, masked fellow. His arms were hidden as he had his cape wrapped around himself, and his seemingly yellow eyes were staring Magolor down, even from this distance.

"Medal Knight..."

"Meta."

"Meta Knight." Magolor corrected himself.

"Follow me."

Meta Knight turned around, and with a kick, opened up the door behind him. He walked inside without checking to see if Magolor was following. Then again, Magolor realized it's not like he had a choice right now. He hurried himself to catch up, eager to get away from all the guns and cannons' glares.

The two of them walked down a narrow corridor, one that felt rustic and cramped to Magolor. He was very much used to the Lor's advanced, spacious, and polished interior. Not to mention, it reeked of metals and oil. The Lor never smelled unpleasant.

"So, you surrendered yourself. Why?" Meta Knight asked, breaking the silence that was otherwise only hindered by the sound of his armored footsteps and ambiance of the Halberd's functions.

"Because I didn't want you to attack the Lor." Came Magolor's answer, simply enough.

"Why would that matter to you? You didn't have a problem with us attacking your Starcutter before."

Magolor winced as that mention cut pretty deep. Not that Meta Knight noticed, since he was leading the way with the alien tagging along from behind.

"...Things are different now. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Lor."

"Sounds about right." Meta Knight said without emphasis.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been watching you for a while now," the masked knight explained. "The only reason you escaped Dedede's dungeon was because that Lor Starcutter blasted you out. I didn't think a simple cell could keep you contained, so it was only a matter of how you would get out that I was concerned with."

"You mean..._you're_ the one that put me there? And you did it...just to see how I would _escape?_" Magolor asked in a tiredly appalled fashion.

"I wanted to assess what you're capable of without your crown. And if you don't have your ship, it doesn't seem like much."

"...Is this why you brought this giant battleship? To get me away from the Lor?" Magolor asked with a frown growing behind his scarf.

"It wasn't my intention to separate you. It was my intention to eliminate the Lor Starcutter, so you wouldn't have that to fall back on."

"You..." Magolor started, his eyes slowly sharpening with a hateful glare. "You...you weren't even_ after _me? You were going to DESTROY the _Lor?!_"

Meta Knight stopped walking, and turned to face the alien, whom was no longer quaking in fear, but in rage.

"Without it, you appear to pose no threat." He stated nonchalantly, but watched him carefully in seeing that he was getting worked up so quickly.

However, it was actually much worse than merely getting worked up. It didn't help that Magolor was addled from overworking without enough rest to balance it out. It also didn't help that Meta Knight was speaking of the Lor as if it were only an object. And most of all, it didn't help that Magolor was now associating this situation with something completely different. The idea of Meta Knight's Halberd picking on the Lor Starcutter, because it was a small little thing. Like a bully. Like a _Doomer_.

Magolor's mind was becoming unstable as he thought of the Lor, his friend, being destroyed by this giant battleship. Destroy? No, it would be _killing_. Meta Knight was going to _murder_ his _only friend_, just to make _himself _weaker! To make him into a helpless _weakling!_

At that moment, the little alien felt something inside himself. It was like a latch had been thrown open, something unlocked, something unleashed. It was a sensation, a feeling, something running throughout himself, something flaring, something filling him that was terrible and wonderful at the same time. It was like when he first put on the Master Crown, but unlike it in that he was feeling some part of his inner workings expand and compress rapidly, like a different heart beating within and without his own, producing a flow of ethereal blood that begged to be spilled.

A sudden burst of pressure filled the corridor as Magolor's fists clenched at his sides. There was a violet energy bubbling into existence around himself, so deep and dark, it verged on utter blackness as it radiated from his oval body. Thin bolts of purple lightning crackled across it as if it were a storm-impending cloud.

Meta Knight jumped backwards, casting his cape off to free his wings, and drew his signature sword. He changed his stance to be balanced lightly on his feet as he watched Magolor for any sudden movements. It wasn't so much this aura that had him concerned, but rather, that Magolor's eyes had changed. Their usual vibrant yellow was now an ominous vermillion, saturated with hatred.

Magolor's hands raised up, palms open, channeling this power to create a large sphere of lavender fire that expanded to be twice his size in the span of a second. He wasn't acting with any thought or logic at this point, he was allowing the rage and raw instincts to guide himself. It felt good to let this power flow. It would feel even better to unleash it. It would feel best of all to make Meta Knight _suffer_.

The fireball launched right at Meta Knight. He attempted to leap out of the way, but the narrow hallways didn't allow for much maneuverability. Just barely, the fireball skimmed under his boots as he latched himself to the ceiling. The magic fire zoomed further off until it made contact with the floor, causing an explosion that tore the metal apart like fabric. Taking account of the damaged he caused, Magolor got an idea.

His hands raised up again, summoning an even bigger fiery sphere. Meta Knight dropped off the ceiling, holding his blade in front of himself, preparing to deflect this attack right back at the glowing alien. Magolor launched his magic...but to Meta Knight's surprise, he wasn't the target. Magolor tossed the sphere down to the floor between them, another explosion rattling the hallway, sending Meta Knight further back, almost as far as where the initial floor hole was created. Not wanting to allow even a moment of recovery for the knight, Magolor summoned a third fireball, and immediately tossed it down the very same hole he created in front of himself. Then a forth, then a fifth, then a sixth in quick succession. They zoomed somewhere into the shadows, each one producing its own explosion, with the last one sounding particularly loud, making the entire ship feel like it was rumbling. Billows of black smoke spilled out of the floor, quickly flooding the hallway.

"I think I hit something _important!_" Magolor gloated in a malicious tone, grinning wickedly with his vermillion eyes.

Meta Knight no longer had a choice at this point, he had to get back to the cockpit of the Halberd before these damages got out of control. Saying nothing further, he glided over the hole behind himself on his wings to get down the hall as smoke crawled along the ceiling.

Magolor raised his palms above his head again, summoning up a fireball for Meta Knight this time, to catch him with while he had his back turned. He really wanted this one to hurt. It expanded between his hands, up and over them, growing larger than any of the ones before. However, Magolor wasn't paying enough attention to just how much space he had available to charge this energy up, and the flaming lavender sphere touched the ceiling, setting it off before he could launch it. The hole it ripped into the metal above him was followed by a rush of air blowing through the corridor like a wave of water down a pipe from the present rate the Halberd was traveling at.

Meta Knight managed to keep himself in place from the rushing force of the air by clutching onto the floor, but Magolor was knocked off-balance by being too close to the explosion. He was spiraling back towards the door like a balloon caught in a vortex, losing all sense of orientation in the process, ups and downs and lefts and rights meshing together in a whirl of blurring colors.

The stream of air tossed Magolor out of the corridor and out the door like a tennis ball, throwing him with enough force to send him clear overboard the Halberd. His trajectory went into an arc as he continued to spin with dizzying speed, followed by him dropping like a stone at the end of the swing.

Mercifully, the constant spinning came to a gradual stop as he fell, but Magolor was only barely holding onto consciousness at this point. With his focus shattered, his eyes faded back into their normal yellow color, and his violet emissions dissolved. He was aware he was falling, but didn't presently have the capacity to register that his life was in peril. The only thing around to stop his fall were the beaches below, but they wouldn't be able to do it in any sort of way that would keep his body intact.

Just then, something else appeared under Magolor. A star-shaped portal opened up wide to catch him, which he dropped into like a coin in a well of water, giving ripples across the surface before the portal sealed back up. Magolor felt himself hit something soft and bouncy, which he still slammed into hard enough to give his body a slap of pain, but fortunately, no damages were inflicted. His hands weakly pressed against this comfortable thing to lift himself up, looking to see where he now was. Those blurry eyes were met with the familiar sight of his private quarters aboard the Lor Starcutter, with him having landed on his bed. It thus became clear to him that the ship disobeyed his orders, and waited around for its pilot from a fair distance instead of returning to Halcandra.

"Lor..." Magolor croaked weakly. "You...saved me...I..."

The battered little alien collapsed on his bed, his mind blanking out in exhaustion as he fell asleep. Although he didn't get to finish his sentence, he didn't need to. The Lor knew what he was going to say.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Magolor ended up sleeping all night, and well into the next day. It was mid-afternoon before he finally rose, and the Lor Starcutter had migrated over to a different region of Popstar in the meantime. It was now standing high up in the sky, drifting among some particularly fluffy clouds near a very tall structure with a chestnut checker print from its base to about its middle, then becoming a purple and gray checker print from the middle all the way to its top, which seemingly reached just under where the sky broke away into space. This was the Nutty something-or-other tower, Magolor couldn't remember the proper name of the building.

The little alien found himself in an odd mood. The Lor legitimately saved his life this time, but there was also the reemergence of his power, which was not too unlike the kind he had while crowned. After filling up with sandwiches for lunch, followed by cleaning up the mess made by the broken mug and tea, Magolor returned to his bed. He sat himself down, laying back against the wall with his hands crossed just under the belt of his scarf. He quietly considered things for a time.

The Lor was his friend, his one and only friend, and he knew it cared about him. It wouldn't have come to his rescue if it didn't. And it was certainly above being a machine, because it would have followed his orders like any machine would, but it didn't. With this thought, Magolor no longer had any doubts about the Lor having a mind of its own. It was making its own decisions and choices, and choosing whether or not to do what it was told. It was something alive and real, just in a ship-shaped body of technology instead of a person-shaped body of squishy parts. And for whatever reason, it liked him enough to want to protect him and be loyal to him, even after he forced it to fight Kirby and his friends. Even after all the punishment it took under his command.

"Why, Lor?" Magolor asked as he stared up at the dreamily blue ceiling. "Why me? Is it just because I activated you? Or is there a different reason...?"

There was no answer. Not that Magolor was really expecting one, since it never seemed the Lor could talk. But he fostered a quiet hope that one of these days, it would find a way to communicate with him directly, to answer his questions. What would that be like? He could find out everything he wanted to know about the Lor. And then maybe the Lor would have questions for him he could answer! That seemed like a nice prospect, except, he didn't know enough about himself to have answers to offer. What was he? Where did he come from? These were such questions that he couldn't answer, but he never dwelled on his identity much. He always told himself the same thing; He's just Magolor, and that's all he needed to be.

These thoughts veered him into thinking about what happened yesterday. While he was recovering on Halcandra from his battle with Kirby, Landia told him he might have his own, natural, latent powers. That, or runoff powers imbued within him as a result of being so infused by the crown. So far, everything he discovered that he could do was similar, yet unlike what he could do while crowned. Phasing though the wooden gear? He could teleport, but never phased. Summoning purple fireballs? The energy he made before was more like spheres of darkness...like irises with large pupils.

A sudden chill made Magolor shudder. He didn't like to think about eyeballs anymore. He forced his mind into a different subject, and the first thing that popped up in his head was Meta knight. He thought about the battle they had...not that it was much of one. It dawned on Magolor that Meta Knight really didn't put up a fight with him at all. He didn't even try to attack him. And the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. He always observed that Meta Knight was very swift and skilled with that sword of his. And yet...he saw almost nothing of it on the Halberd. Was there a reason? Was he holding back?

"I hope he's alright." He thought aloud with a few blinks. As much as he wanted to hurt Meta Knight at the time, he certainly didn't want to kill him.

...Then again, if he might happen to be powerful enough to pull off killing Meta Knight, then he could probably easily kill those Doomers...

A sudden flickering of the light in Magolor's private quarters snapped him out of these thoughts. He'd never known the Lor to have any sort of energy problems since it got fully repaired, and this odd sign of such a problem prompted him to worriedly hop out of bed, heading for the cockpit at a brisk pace. Once he got there, he went up to the screen, but there wasn't any new info on its glowing display.

"Is anything wrong, Lor?" He asked with concern in his tone.

The screen remained normal as it was. No indications of problems, nothing.

Magolor brought a gloved hand up to scratch the side of his hooded head in confusion. It was certainly unusual...but there was nothing relayed for why the lights went on the blink.

"Well...if there's ever anything wrong, make sure to tell me, okay? Or show me something. I promise I'll fix whatever it is, no matter what!" He nodded with a raised fist, as if to reassure the Lor.

With that, he decided to get back to work on the challenge stages. After he left the room, the screen flickered, briefly showing an image of Magolor himself before blinking back into its previous display.

It was another few days of passing that Magolor spent working on finishing his challenge stages without interruption. This time around, he took it easy, allowing himself to get plenty of rest and eat at a leisurely pace to keep his mind alert. He wrapped up the parasol challenge, and then got to work on the fighter challenge. But he changed things around for this one, making it into a combat chamber, since fighting was all about combat. He had the Lor produce a different kind of building blocks, ones that appeared to be made of stone, but still carried their playful markings of painted shapes.

Following a similar scheme, he did the same for the extra special challenge, the mish-mash smash of abilities that he decided to call Smash. The Smash combat chamber! Magolor amused himself with that idea as he got it all planned out and constructed. He ended up liking the whole concept so much, he spent some time mapping out and putting together an extra hard version of it.

Once all these stages were finally completed, Magolor realized he had a bit of a problem. He figured Kirby had to know about his presence by now from Meta Knight, especially since he openly attacked the Halberd. If he were to find Kirby, it seemed like it might be difficult to convince him to come into his ship for his surprise. He probably wouldn't trust him, if not outright attack him on sight. Magolor decided that the logical thing to do would be to move his challenge stages outside of the Lor—out where everyone could see it. Then he could just point over at it before they'd try to cut him down. And there appeared to be plenty of room to set everything up around the gigantic tower.

This, however, presented an entirely different problem in itself. Moving the challenge stages outside of the ship would be extremely time-consuming, since he'd have to individually move each brick, block, and everything they contained. That process would take more time to complete than making the stages in the first place did, and Magolor didn't feel confident that he wouldn't be found again before then.

With this current predicament gnawing on his brain, Magolor went back up to the deck of the Starcutter. Moving himself to the edge, he leaned against the rims of the emblem once again, his detached hands hanging over the side as they touched the cool air seeping through his gloves. This cloudy sky had an even fresher scent to it than the warm breeze near the desert did, but he couldn't compare it to the air over the beaches since he never had a chance to take it in while there were bigger, scarier, death ship sorts of things to be concerned with.

As Magolor sniffed the air, he was unpleasantly reminded of the apple incident. Thinking about it, now knowing that was all Meta Knight's doing, it was such a sneaky, clever thing to do. But there was no chance of anything like that happening while the Lor was so high up among these bubbly white drifts. If any food appeared up here, it would absolutely be suspicious. Though, that apple sure did look good, and even after all he'd gone through, Meta Knight could've at least let him eat the apple. Maybe he didn't deserve it, but it would've been nice.

Magolor's lemon eyes compressed into thin marks as he envisioned that supple apple, as if in a daydream. He held his hands out before himself, picking, lifting up the imaginary fruit between his palms, big and glorious and red as it were.

This vision didn't last long before he felt a lurching sort of sensation within himself, rolling and churning with force enough to make him feel nauseous momentarily. He somewhat instinctively slapped his hand over his scarf-covered mouth, holding back what he thought was an impending bout of stomach sickness, but it soon calmed down into that familiar, pulsing beat of energy he'd felt before. Hands removed, Magolor hovered backwards towards the center of the humming deck, his eyes reopened into a confused expression. The heat of rage was what brought this power out for him previously, but what was bringing it out now?

Magolor closed his eyes again, lifting his hands in front of himself, focusing on the inner beat as he tried to mimic what he'd just done. He thought about that apple again. The big, red, apple he pulled out of the tree, holding it in his hands. The sensation flared once more, and he felt his hands become warm with the energy. His eyes clenched shut even tighter. He concentrated harder. The heat increased as his hands vibrated in strain. The power swirled in his chest like an oncoming wave.

**FSSH**

After a flash of white light emitted, the little alien snapped out of his focus as he realized there was something being held in his hands now. Between those gloved palms, Magolor confoundedly stared at a large apple, the very same one as before, even with the broken string tied to its stem.

He gave it a rub. It felt like an apple. He leaned in to sniff it. It smelled like an apple. Magolor pulled down on his scarf, and took a bite out of the crispy flesh with an audible crunch. He chewed. It tasted fresh and tart and delicious.

Magolor continued to stare at the bitten fruit for another minute or two before awareness of what happened settled in his thoughts. He summoned the apple. Through whatever wizardry he was capable of, _he summoned the apple_.

"Yay!" He shouted, holding the apple over his head victoriously. He promptly and ravenously reduced the apple down to a large core, which he then disposed of by tossing it over the side of the ship. Now carrying a fruit-weighted belly, he returned to the interior of the ship, floating over to his challenge stages sluggishly.

"If I can summon things..." he considered verbally as he looked at the doors of his stages. "...Then maybe I_ can _get these out of the Lor easily."

Deciding to conduct an experiment, he proceeded into the sword challenge, surrounding himself with the colorful play block walls. His eyes settled on one particular block with a yellow star shape, and then he looked down to the floor. Resting one hand against his forehead, then pointing the other hand at the ground, Magolor shut his eyes, clearing his thoughts until the only thing he could mentally see was that one star block. He felt the ethereal pulse, followed by the cool flow of its power. He focused deeply on his vision and the feeling. The pointing hand glowed, shaking, scintillating with warmth and magic. The sensations came smoothly and easier than before, less overwhelming and more controlled.

**FSSH**

Magolor opened his eyes. The block with the yellow painted star was now laying before him. He looked over to the space it had occupied, and saw that there was a missing block where it was supposed to be. The little alien brought his hands together, rubbing the fabric of his gloves as his eyes slowly formed a closed smile.

"I _can_ do it!" He chimed joyously.

From there, Magolor continued moving the blocks around, practicing this skill until he felt familiar with the motions, until he produced the results quickly and efficiently, until he could do it without too much strain.

Following this, Magolor whipped up some new blueprints while he had the Lor produce the materials and tools he needed so that he could set up simple, quaint buildings and doors around the massive tower. He picked out three different locations, each one taking a spot higher up on the tower, where he then constructed these little hubs carefully. Once they were completed, Magolor gleefully took care of transferring over the interiors of the challenge stages from their old doors to the new ones. He entered the empty rooms, and envisioned each stage like a 3D model in his mind's eye, recalling the placements of the blocks, bricks, buttons, doors, and everything else with the aid of his blueprints. Light blasted out of his hands, becoming white orbs that flew over to the proper placement of their cargo, materializing each piece in its proper place. He kept at this until he felt that inner pulse dry out, which ended up putting him on the brink of mental and physical exhaustion. Magolor fixed this by getting plenty of rest and replenishing himself with food and drinks, where he then repeated this process, able to go at it stronger and longer each time, until every stage had been transferred out of the Lor and into his outdoor creation.

Magolor sat himself at the edge of the Starcutter's emblem as he took in the peaceful sight of the sun setting behind his finished theme park. Tomorrow, it would be a full week since he resumed working here in Nutter-whatever, and now his project was finally complete. After all the problems that occurred—after all the delays and distractions, at last, it was done and over.

All that remained was to find Kirby and show him. Magolor was a little surprised that no one managed to track him down in all the time he spent in this region, but he wasn't about to complain. Just some time to work on it all without anyone coming in trying to kill him was exactly what he needed, and he felt quite grateful for that.

Once the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the stars awoke in the night sky, Magolor headed back inside the Lor. He drifted tiredly to his private quarters.

"Lor...we need to find Kirby," he uttered before being interrupted by a wide yawn, patting a hand over his mouth. "...I think we should start looking back where we first crash landed here...but take it slow. I want to start searching in the morning...and get some rest in the meantime."

Magolor bundled himself up in his bed as the Lor began cruising through a dark sky shimmering gently with weaves of stardust.

As usual, the Lor woke Magolor up with some soft beeps and a glow of simulated sunlight. And as usual, Magolor woke up graciously to this, offering the Lor his thanks, followed by getting ready for the day. But unlike usual, when he went into the cockpit to check their current status, there was a warning on the screen. Normally, the Lor would make urgent noises at the little alien to alert him to something in need of his attention, but for whatever reasons, it didn't do that this time.

Magolor took notice of the display, showing them still over the desert region, and a blinking danger sign indicating something on the deck of the ship. Alarmed, he headed out the door of the cockpit and up to the deck to see what the trouble was, nervously hovering across the shiny metals.

When he reached the deck, apart from the glare of the hot desert sun and the parched, cloudless sky, there stood a figure, near the far edge of the ship, right between the starry emblem.

It was Meta Knight.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

For a few moments, Magolor floated in place, stunned and staring at the blue knight. Meta Knight stared right back, arms folded under his cape, unmoving apart from scant winds that occasionally tugged at his ultramarine fabric.

After a time of passing silence, Magolor was the first one to speak up.

"Meta Knight...what are you doing here?" He asked cautiously.

This was followed by another moment of silence, with the knight's eyes piercing through his mask as if calculating every facet of Magolor's pose and words.

"Well," he started calmly. "You didn't think I was going to let you off after what you did to the Halberd, did you?"

"You were going to destroy the Lor Starcutter!" Magolor replied defensively. "Is that why you're here now? I won't let you!"

"I'm not here for your ship." The knight responded with a slight, slow shake of his head.

"Then me? Are you going to put me in another dungeon? Put me though another test? Or kill me?" Magolor maintained his defensive tone, gaining a growing glare along with his words.

"I considered a test, of sorts."

"Why? What purpose do they serve? If you want to know why I'm here, I'll tell you!"

"Your words could be empty, like they were last time. I can't trust you'll be compliant."

"Why_ not _fight me, then? If this test is going to be anything like the other one, then I don't want it!" Magolor's fists clenched as he brought them in front of himself, falling into a heated rambling. "You_ know _I have power now! I'm not helpless! I'm not a weakling! Or is that why you don't want to fight me? You didn't on your Halberd! Are you afraid?!"

Meta Knight made a slight sound through his metallic mask, like that of a scoffing.

"It's not presently in your best interests for me to fight you."

"MY best interests?! Why not?! I would be_ happy _to fight you!" He exclaimed, feeling the pulse within himself at a slow, subtle beat. He could feel the energy dripping out of whatever internal reservoir was producing it, getting ready for him to draw upon it. "You thought you could just roll in here on your giant battleship of doom and hurt the Lor! You thought I wouldn't be able to protect it!"

"You're forging your own conclusions."

"Tell me where I'm wrong, then! You're just like those Doomers, the only thing you want is to cause me suffering! But that's all changed, because I'M the one that's going to make YOU suffer!"

A burning orange color fogged into place of the yellow in Magolor's eyes, soon followed by a deep red, surfacing like drops of fresh blood. Meta Knight's eyes narrowed slightly.

"As I said, it's not in your best interests. I'm not going to indulge your senseless battle lust."

"You ARE just like a Doomer! You're only picking on us because you thought we were weaklings! But now—now that I_ have _power, now that I can _fight back_, you're just a big WUSS!"

The little alien rumbled, energy washing through him as a tide, violet darkness flaring around his form like bubbling ink. Having this power to call on, after being powerless all his life, felt amazing. He didn't need any crown anymore, this was all his own, his to command, his to inflict on others. And there was nothing more he wanted now than to get some major inflicting done.

"If you believe that to be the case, then why would I have come here, on your ship?" Meta Knight asked, still watching Magolor, not even giving a twitch at his display.

"Doesn't matter!" He snapped. "Because I'm going to KILL you!"

In a motion that made it seem like he might throw his detached hands out of orbit with the rest of his body, Magolor tossed his palms skyward over his head, allowing the power to flow without restraint. Death was on his mind, and as long as this power would grant him that request, he didn't care to exert control over it, and his practice over the course of transferring his challenge stages made it come out much stronger than before. A blueish white glow swelled, bloating into a massive sphere three times his size, buzzing with electrical energy instead of the lavender fire. The inner pulse was beating fast, excitedly, right along with the worked up beats of his heart. This gave Magolor a feeling of synergy, riveting throughout his body unlike anything he'd felt before, his scarlet eyes going wide and deepening in their hue.

Meta Knight took to this situation rather casually, but with no less than the seriousness it merited. His dark cape flew overboard the ship as his wings extended, and his sword flashed into view, reflecting the glimmer of the hot sun. He brought himself up to a stationary hover over the deck.

"Is this why you returned to Dream Land, Magolor? To kill me?" He inquired.

"No!" Magolor yelled as electric bolts wracked chaotically along his clothes, his cape flapping rapidly from the unseen force. "But killing you will prove I'm not a weakling anymore!"

That said, he unleashed the massive sphere. It trailed electricity like a bolt of lightning, sizzling through the air in static fury. Meta Knight swung himself around, diving down just under the orb, feeling a prickling sensation across his circular back as it just barely passed over him. The sphere trailed out into the sky harmlessly, fading out in the distance.

Meta Knight quickly swung himself back up and glided across the ship, landing in front of the mast, behind where Magolor was standing. The little alien swiveled to face the knight again, bringing his hands up, his power flowing into a new sphere, creating an even bigger than the one before in less than two seconds.

"What will you do after you kill me?" Meta Knight asked as he pivoted, but stood his ground, his boots touching lightly on the Lor's metals.

"I'll go after the Doomers next!" Magolor shouted, his voice degrading into a deranged tone as the power continued to overwhelm his senses. "And I'LL be the one laughing at THEM!"

The electric ball popped out of his hands, flying at Meta Knight with screaming rage. The masked knight flipped, rolling himself back down to the deck, leaving nothing between the oncoming magic and the ship's mast.

**BOOM!**

Magolor halted for a moment as he watched the mast become severed from its post, blue smoke hissing out in its place. The sail encased itself in a transparent bubble, drifting as calmly as a lone feather towards the desert sands. Shortly after this, the Lor Starcutter shuddered, dropping in altitude slowly.

"Making them fight us before wasn't enough for you? Now you want to kill them all yourself?" Meta Knight questioned as he kept his eyes on the radiating alien, paying little heed to the descending ship.

"They_ deserve _it!" Magolor screamed, rotating again to face him. "And now look what you've done! This was your plan all along, wasn't it?! You wanted to make ME hurt the Lor instead!"

Meta Knight wasn't given a chance to retort before Magolor swept himself back inside the Starcutter's cockpit. He flew over to the keyboard, seeing the large screen displaying a neon diagram of the now missing mast, along with an arrow pointing at the dunes to indicate a forced landing in process. The violet-flared alien slammed his fists down on the console, causing their colorful lights to flicker from the impact.

"Magolor."

He turned. Meta Knight followed him into the cockpit, still with his sword drawn, still in a light-footed stance, occupying a spot in about the center of the glossy room.

"Meta _jerk!_ You want me to destroy the Lor, by making me fight you here!" Magolor accused, quivering with hatred.

"I haven't made you do anything."

"Yes you did! You're ruining everything! But I'm not going to let you stop me, no matter what you try to do to me or the Lor!"

"Magolor," Meta Knight repeated, with a sudden assertiveness in his voice. "Don't you think you've already done enough to the Lor yourself?"

"You're the one making me do this! I'm not doing anything to the Lor!"

"Is that what you really believe?" His hidden eyes narrowed. "Does the Lor agree with you?"

"Does the—"

Magolor cut himself off as his thoughts were brought to a halt, initially stunned by such a question. But this reaction was quickly followed by being appalled, which showed in a vicious glare of his vermillion eyes, his aura-bubbling oval body tilting forward.

"Who are YOU to ask ME what the Lor thinks?!" He screeched with such fervor, his mouth became visible above the scarf, revealing an illumination within, almost as bright as his eyes. This glow outlined some jagged, tooth-like shapes lining his mouth, shapes that certainly weren't there before. The blue knight took notice of this small detail.

"I know who I am," Meta Knight answered gravely. "But I don't think you know what you're becoming. Maybe you should get the Lor's opinion, and see if it does agree with you."

"The Lor won't answer me, Meta _idiot!_ It never has—and if I ask it anything now—"

Something made Magolor stop talking. Perhaps it was a quiet feeling within himself, or perhaps it was the way Meta Knight was staring at him with such seriousness. Or perhaps it was a change in the room, something unseen, unheard, yet palpable. A sensation of thickness in the air, and a quietness so absolute, he could only hear his blood pumping with the ethereal beat.

Magolor turned to face the keyboard and the screen. Its display hadn't changed, except for showing a visual of the ship's position in the air, gradually making its way to the sands below.

"Lor," he started, no longer screaming, but still with a raised voice. "Meta Knight is the one causing all this trouble, and you know it! I know you agree with me!"

As was expected, Magolor received no response, no audio or visual cues from the Lor. But when he reached over to the console with his hands, the glow within the panel retreated. He blinked his dark red eyes widely, and touched down on the keyboard. It felt cold. It felt withdrawn.

"Lor..." he asked quietly, timidly. "You..._do _agree with me, don't you...?"

Again, nothing. Nothing except for the coldness and thickness of the room. All the warmth and comfort of the Lor was gone, as if it no longer wanted anything to do with him. This realization came slowly, it came with fear...and then it came with hatred.

"I thought you were my FRIEND, Lor!" He resumed screeching, fists raised, his aura flaring erratically as he backed away from the console. "Why are you taking Meta Knight's side, huh?! Am I going to have to go back to Another Dimension by myself?! When I've finally become strong?! It's what I've always wanted! I'm going to make those Doomers pay, and I'll do it without you if you're gonna decide you like Meta Knight better than ME!"

While Magolor went on this tirade, Meta Knight made his move. He leapt up into the air, silently and swiftly, until he was hovering over the little alien as a shadow on the ceiling. Then, with precision enough to throw thread through the loop of a sewing needle, he slammed down with his sword past the violet fog, its blade slipping between Magolor's scarf and the back of his head, the tip piercing and wedging itself into the floor.

Magolor cringed, feeling the cold blade against him like an ice cube sliding down his back. Meta Knight let go of the hilt as he backflipped to where he'd been standing before, landing with a clack of his boots, allowing the sword to stay where it was. It took Magolor a moment to realize the sword was keeping him pinned in place, making movements that only succeeded in tugging on his clothes in his attempt to turn around.

"_Now_ what are you trying to pull?!" He shouted with heated frustration.

"I have a simple question for you, Magolor." Meta Knight responded flatly. "I doubt you're aware, but Landia told us a few things about you and the Master Crown while we were chasing you."

The mention of Landia got Magolor's full attention, as much as he was capable of giving without being able to face the knight. He ceased fidgeting.

"Landia told us that the Master Crown is only truly dangerous if it's in the hands of those who are corruptible," he continued. "That its darkness will consume its wearer...but only if there is darkness there for it to draw upon. So...my question is about our battle together, while you were crowned. How much of that darkness we faced from you came from the Master Crown, and how much of it was from your own heart?"

There was a chill in Magolor from this question, one that caused his heart to throb out of pace with the ethereal pulse. Then there was a flicker of the screen before him, which he quickly looked up at, where the Lor now displayed a live video feed, of himself. The truth of what he saw cut into his heart like glass, making him feel as vulnerable as a baby. Magolor saw the near-blackness of the violet energy he was emitting. He saw the deep, blood red of his eyes. He saw the illumination of his mouth and the jagged teeth he bore.

Terror of this vision of himself, this reality of himself, jolted through him like cold electricity, turning his veins to ice in the span of a heartbeat. He raised his hands to cover his mouth, he closed his red eyes to block the sight out, he moved with the instinct of wanting to run away. But at this point, there was no escape for the little alien, for even his own memories were glaring at him with the eight blue eyes of Landia, a dragon with four heads, a jeweled crown upon its topmost head.

_...__it cannot be worn by those with corruptible hearts. The will of the crown can take control of its wearer through their own darkness._

Then he saw Landia as four separate dragons, standing around him, while he was recovering on Halcandra from his battle with Kirby.

_The only one who could abuse these powers now is you._

"**NO!**" Magolor screamed, at the memories, at the Lor Starcutter, at Meta Knight, and at himself. Knowing that this change was happening to him through no influence of the Master Crown, through only his own actions and desires, was more than he could bear. It was a glimpse into his own corruption, and he didn't know how deep it could reach. He didn't know how much malignancy he would've been capable of if he never realized how far he was falling. And he didn't know if it was already too late for him to back out.

These thoughts reduced him to a quivering, fearful mass. He moved his gloved hands to cover up his eyes as well as his mouth, futility trying to hide away from himself and the world around him. Tears sprung from his tightly closed red lines. He tried to will the ethereal pulse into flat-lining, but it continued to pump and flow.

"I don't...want to be this way...!" He whimpered with a cracking, despairing voice.

With this plea made, he heard the sound of approaching metal footsteps. He then felt a hand touch down carefully on the side of his scarf.

"You don't have to be this way, Magolor." He heard Meta Knight's voice speak gently, as if addressing a frightened child. "If you seek to change...then I can help you."

Magolor finally lifted his red eyes out from behind his hands, slowly looking up at Meta Knight through his running tears. The masked knight's eyes peered back down at him, no longer with their calculating pierce, but with calm seriousness. The two quietly stared for a time.

"...What...can I do...?" Magolor asked timidly after a while.

"There are two things you can do," Meta Knight responded promptly. "One is to get control over your powers. And the other is to get control over yourself."

"Myself...?" He asked in confusion.

"That's the main problem here, Magolor. Remember what I told you Landia said? Corruptible hearts. If you can't control yourself, then you have no hope of handling any sort of power. If suffering is what you desire upon others, if death is what you want to be inflicting, then are you really any different from the Doomers?"

"I—" he stammered with a shiver. "I—I don't want to be like them!"

"Then you need control. Doomers are...creatures that lack control. They indulge their darkness. If you don't want to be like them, then you need to hone yourself, and your powers. If you let these powers get out of control, you'll become a vessel to your own malice."

This mention made Magolor blink suddenly.

"Is that something Landia told you...? How did it know anything about the Doomers, and my powers? It didn't know much when I talked to it!"

"...Landia told us about the Doomers, but it didn't tell us about your own powers." Meta Knight said as his gaze set on Magolor more fully.

"Then...who?" Magolor asked with his red eyes slowly widening. "Who knows about me like that? I want to talk to who you talked to!"

Meta Knight didn't say anything. He merely looked up at the Lor's screen. Magolor did the same. The image had gone back to showing the progress of the landing and the missing mast.

"The Lor..." Magolor's glowing eyes snapped back at Meta Knight, tiny beads of tears tossed off from the force. "You don't mean...you don't mean the Lor Starcutter told you?!"

"It did." Meta Knight answered with a solemn nod.

"HOW?!" The little alien practically screeched.

"After I sent a response to your message from the Halberd, I was given an immediate reply. Your Lor Starcutter is apparently perfectly capable of sending coherent messages in our language. It had a few things to tell me about you. It essentially asked for my help. It was aware you had the potential to go down a very dark path with these powers of yours. It told me not to fight you, or you might...become like the others."

"The...others...?" Magolor asked, his mind reeling from this information. "What others?"

"It didn't specify who these others were. But I've gathered that it isn't telling you these things on purpose. Maybe it believes you're not ready to know yet."

Silence dominated the room as Magolor processed Meta Knight's words. The Lor Starcutter had the capacity to talk to him all along, and it was choosing not to. It knew about him. It knew about his powers. What else did it know? How did it know? And why wasn't it telling him?

"Well..." Magolor started as his murky eyes went downcast. "...I trust the Lor. If it's not telling me...then I know it has to be for a good reason. The Lor is my friend...and if it asked you to help me...then that's more proof that it cares about me."

"I can't help you with your Lor Starcutter," Meta Knight said as he removed his hand from Magolor's scarf. "But as I said, I can help you with controlling these powers. With proper training, you can achieve full control. And with full control over your powers, and yourself, you'll achieve mastery."

More silence ensued as Magolor continue to think heavily, juggling these thoughts around in his head. After several moments of quiet contemplation, he gave a sudden blink.

"Meta Knight..." he looked back up at the knight, his tears stopping, his red eyes glimmering as an idea came to him. "If you're going to help me with this, then I know exactly how I want to train my powers..."

After Meta Knight removed his sword, freeing Magolor from his position, the little wizard invited the knight to have lunch with him. As they ate, he discussed his ideas in full detail, and the Lor Starcutter landed softly on the harsh desert sands.

The thickness that was present inside the Lor had gone, replaced by its familiar warmth and comfort. There was a positive feeling in the air.


End file.
